I’ve never considered myself a gamer, but I was wrong. It turns out that life itself is a game. In fact, it’s a whole series of games, and we all play them nonstop.

These games aren’t a waste of time, either; they happen to be the best way to learn life’s lessons – which is the whole reason we’re alive on this earth in the first place. The sooner we realize that life is a game and play to win, the better everything will go for us.

These games are so utterly immersive and realistic that you’d think they came from a hundred years in the future. Some of the games are exciting, some are scary or fun, easy or challenging, some we play in groups, others make us feel like we’re playing alone, even though we never are. We’re all always interconnected in subtle ways and everything we think, feel and do matters.

One of the least popular of these learning games called Depression. No one enjoys it, no one chooses to play, but life doesn’t always let us decide which games shows up on our screen. If we need lessons that Depression can teach, we may find ourselves trapped inside until we find our way out.

The worst thing about depression is that it’s more complex than meets the eye, and we often get stuck because we don’t know the secrets to beat its many levels. This article reveals the most useful of these secrets; the cheats to help you level up, to find your way through so you can finally win, move on, and play something more enjoyable with your life.

LEVEL 1: Relax

When you first enter the game, you find yourself at dusk, at 20,000′ on a snowy mountainside, and your challenge is to reach the summit. Light and color drain from the sky. The air grows uncomfortably thin and dangerously cold. Your first instinct is to run up the snowy ridge and get this stage over with as quickly as possible, but when you try, you instantly feel nauseous and fall to your knees, gasping for breath. You might even tumble down the mountain, making matters even worse. Read more “Top Ten Depression Cheats”→

We’ve heard it before but we barely understand how consistently love resolves all conflict and solves or improves all problems and circumstances.

Ponder the following examples and ask yourself how you can apply love to improve your own life in ways you never considered:

Who intimidates you?

We feel intimidated when our insecurities get triggered.

Do you ever wonder if you’re good enough to be loved and accepted? If so, someone more skilled, attractive, funny, wealthy, popular, or [insert your particular insecurity here] may “make” you feel uncomfortable because it reminds you of your allegedly unlovable flaws.

Do you ever feel like the world is unsafe? If so, someone overbearing may seem threatening and dangerous to you. Okay, some people really are threatening and dangerous, but most would never really want to hurt you, and 96% of the world wants you to succeed and be happy! (Deep down, the other 4% do, too.)

The solution? LOVE whoever you feel threatened by. Maybe they will respond with kindness, but that’s not the guarantee.

The promise is that your focus will change to something far more positive and healthy, and once that draws attention away from your vulnerabilities, they’ll stop getting triggered and making you feel bad. Read more “Love Conquers All”→

It’s that time of year again! Time to pretend that next year will turn out different than all the other years before it. “This year,” we promise ourselves, we’ll stick to our resolutions, get in shape, stop smoking, get that new job…and then, we know – we just KNOW it, then we will be happy. Then life will be good.

Well? It’s true! You will be happier and life will be better. Or rather, life would be better if you actually kept working at your goals.

Sorry to tell you the bad news, but the other part is probably not true – you will not keep your resolutions this year any better than you ever have before. Next year will end up pretty much like this one except that we’ll all be another year older.

“Life is kinder to those who love themselves, because love attracts love and light, and repels and dissolves darkness.” – Shaun Roundy

Admit it – if you really, really loved yourself, you’d be happier. You’d have more abundance of all kinds in your life: friends, fun, wealth, health, and overall satisfaction. You’d even grow less attached to material things and all external circumstances, because your primary stability and satisfaction would happen on the insidewhere outside factors can’t touch it. This is the way life is meant to be lived.

But wanting to love yourself thoroughly doesn’t automatically make it happen does it? The fact is: life is hard and our society teaches self-loathing far more effectively than self love. Let’s take a quick look at why. Read more “How to Learn to Love Yourself”→

When I was 5 years old, I went to a church Halloween party dressed as a little devil. I wore a red mask, a black cape, carried a red plastic trident, and the only thing I now recall about the party is the Box Maze.

In hindsight, I see that the mistake I made inside that row of cardboard boxes taped together into a long, dark tunnel was the same costly mistake I have repeated all my life. This mistake has been the cause of inexpressible sadness, frustration, confusion, loneliness and failure after failure.

I’ll tell you what that mistake was and I’ll bet it’s the same one you’ve been making all your life and the primary source of your own sorrows. Unfortunately, telling you won’t solve your problems, but it will give you a place to begin.

Last night I dreamt about being in a medieval-like land with a queen (played by my last girlfriend) and a bad guy with a big sword. If it had been a movie, it would have ended very quickly, because when the queen and I rode up to the bad guy, I shot him (just like Indiana Jones) and the conflict ended.

But then I realized that the bad guy was a robot, and it turns out he wasn’t quite dead. And all that stuff about being bad? He was just running his program. Once I pointed out that he had choice, he proved very willing and able to organize and move things in a very positive, healthy direction. He shoved his sword down through the earth and and steered the world as if it had an engine and the hilt were a steering wheel.

Please, let’s not get all Freudian now. The important question is – are YOU a robot? Are you just running your program – going from day to day doing whatever you do because that’s the way things have always been done and you feel like it and have never considered doing things differently?

Do you ever wish your life would change? That you would be happier or more popular or richer or less alone, etc.? Well…it can…and it’s all up to you, and it’s surprisingly simple to do.

“All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.”

What if your life really WAS a play – would we be watching a comedy, tragedy, or just repeating history (Yours? Your family’s? Your nationality’s?) over and over like a broken record? What part would you be playing? The hero, a fool, the lover, a villain, or what?

Are you the protagonist – do you know what you want and face the challenges to get it, or are you just a minor character in your own story, and/or are you also the antagonist at the same time, all wrapped up into one, undermining all your efforts while trying in vain to get what you want?

And now for the important question – do you like your story? If not (or even if so), how would you like it to change?

Let’s get this out of the way: plays can be edited and revised. You CAN change your story by changing your character, and you can begin immediately. Read more “Change Your Story Today”→

I’ve known Bridger Barksdale all his life. I am *awed* at his dedication to his pursuits and the *excellence* he achieves in them.

I produced this video to show off some of his inspiring skills, and to help him raise money to attend the Bolshoi Theater’s summer intensive program in New York this summer, where he was awarded a 90% scholarship when he tried out at the Grand Prix in Denver this winter. His family is not rich and could really use your help. I guarantee that any help you can provide would be a VERY GOOD cause!

The latest tech gadgets are cool, thrilling adventures are exciting, and physical pleasures can be satisfying, but sometimes the simple things – a walk on the beach or nap in the sun – are exactly what you need to restore balance to your life. Here’s a simple video to remind you of that fact…